Today should be the day I post my “what did I watch and read last week” post. But in a rare occurrence, I actually didn’t finish a single book, movie, or even a TV episode. My week was just totally swept away by other things. What other things?
Well, I had a fair bit of family in town to celebrate Tomas and Caroline’s wedding open house here in Maine. That involved a lot of prep work and then the actual events themselves. (I’ll be heading out to Utah at the end of the month for his reception out there as well.)
And then, we’ve got Daniela’s heading out to the MTC tomorrow morning very early. That’s definitely bittersweet. I took some time just now to reread what I wrote when Tomas left, almost 4 years ago. You can pretty much do a find + replace on that post and come up with how I’m feeling now. There are key differences, of course. I’ve done this once before already, and Daniela’s just leaving for 18 months instead of 24. In some ways, it was helpful to read that post again. To think back on how adrift I felt for a bit when my family went from 5 of us to 4. I know things will change, and I know they will just be different, not worse.
But goodbyes are still hard for me, any which way you slice it.
I’ll be taking tomorrow off. I’m not up to doing that and going back to work or blogging. My plan is to post Daniela’s weekly letters here, the same as I did when Tomas was on his mission. She’ll be at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) until the end of September, and then we’ll find out where she ends up in Slovakia. Stay tuned.
Yesterday she spoke in church and did a fantastic job. I was really impressed with how well she put her thoughts together, how mature she is, and how ready for this experience she is (even if at times she might not feel that way. Doing something so different can be daunting!) I’m very excited for her and for the experiences she’ll encounter, and I’m super excited to meet the Daniela who comes off that plane in February 2028. When I focus on that future, it makes the present less gloomy.
That’s all I’m up to writing for now.